Games › Hack and Slash › Hack and Slash + Female Protagonist
Should I ship a Female-Led Hack and Slash game?
Hack and Slash + Female Protagonist
Of 206 developers who shipped a Female-Led Hack and Slash game in the last 2 years: 3 in 10 made under est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method., the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method., 1 in 4 cleared est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method., 1 in 20 cleared est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 374 more are announced, ×3.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $7.0k, ×11 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $2.3k; 1 in 20 cleared $1.7M, ×2765 the market median. Revenue is up 15% on the market; 374 games are announced against 119 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $2.2k (exactly $2,246) |
|---|---|
| Median | $7.0k (exactly $7,012) |
| Top 25% | $65k (exactly $65,304) |
| Top 5% | $1.7M (exactly $1,736,305) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 206 |
| Released games | 664 |
| Announced | 374 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $9.99 |
momentum: how a niche's revenue percentiles and developer count moved between two equal, adjacent periods, divided by the market's own move. See method., 12 months: revenue up 15% on the market, supply 30% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 11%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Hack and Slash
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
- Female Protagonist
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Hack and Slash; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Action RPG, Adventure
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $29.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Anime, 3D, Third Person
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $29.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 86% positive over 279,811 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $2.3k. 7 in 10 of the 106 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 374 games are announced against 119 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.1 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Hack and Slash with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Turn-BasedStrong odds
- + Turn-Based CombatStrong odds
- + VampiresFair
- + ModernFair
- + IdlerFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + RomancePoor odds
- + Visual NovelPoor odds
- + Character Action GamePoor odds
- + DestructionPoor odds
- + LGBTQ+Poor odds
- + AutomationPoor odds
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | NieR:Automata™ | older | $39.99 | 115,103 88% | 3.5M | $138M (exactly $138,089,069) | Square Enix, PlatinumGames Inc. |
| | Stellar Blade™ | $59.99 | 61,289 93% | 1.8M | $110M (exactly $110,301,813) | SHIFT UP Corporation | |
| | Hades II | $29.99 | 114,419 95% | 3.4M | $103M (exactly $102,942,774) | Supergiant Games | |
| | WUCHANG: Fallen Feathers | $49.99 | 44,865 58% | 1.3M | $67M (exactly $67,284,040) | Leenzee | |
| | Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice | older | $29.99 | 66,788 90% | 2.0M | $60M (exactly $60,089,164) | Ninja Theory |
| | Nioh 2 – The Complete Edition | older | $49.99 | 33,892 87% | 1.0M | $51M (exactly $50,827,832) | KOEI TECMO GAMES CO., LTD. |
| | Granblue Fantasy: Relink | older | $39.99 | 41,227 89% | 1.2M | $49M (exactly $49,460,032) | Cygames, Inc. |
| | Tales of ARISE | older | $49.99 | 27,643 86% | 829k | $41M (exactly $41,456,207) | Bandai Namco Studios Inc. |
| | NieR Replicant™ ver.1.22474487139... | older | $59.99 | 21,493 88% | 645k | $39M (exactly $38,680,952) | Square Enix, Toylogic Inc. |
| | Maneater | older | $39.99 | 21,790 87% | 654k | $26M (exactly $26,141,463) | Tripwire Interactive |
| | Nioh 3 | $69.99 | 11,777 78% | 353k | $25M (exactly $24,728,167) | KOEI TECMO GAMES CO., LTD. | |
| | AI LIMIT | $34.99 | 22,833 92% | 685k | $24M (exactly $23,967,800) | Sense Games | |
| | Echoes of Aincrad | $69.99 | 4,108 47% | 123k | $8.6M (exactly $8,625,568) | Game Studio Inc. | |
| | The Killing Antidote | · EA | $29.99 | 7,512 88% | 225k | $6.8M (exactly $6,758,546) | MetalStar Studio |
| | Atelier Yumia: The Alchemist of Memories & the Envisioned Land | $69.99 | 2,534 64% | 76k | $5.3M (exactly $5,320,640) | KOEI TECMO GAMES CO., LTD. | |
| | Realm of Ink | $24.99 | 5,007 90% | 150k | $3.8M (exactly $3,753,748) | Leap Studio | |
| | MOTORSLICE | $19.99 | 5,467 85% | 164k | $3.3M (exactly $3,278,560) | Regular Studio |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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